The term "sharding" was coined by Google engineers, and popularized through their publication of the Big Table architecture. However, the concept of "shared-nothing" database partitioning has been around for a decade or more and there have been many implementations over this period, especially high profile in-house built solutions by Internet leaders such as eBay, Amazon, Digg, Flickr, Skype, YouTube, Facebook, Friendster, and Wikipedia.
Ferrofluid is a very interesting material originally developed by NASA it has now found itself been used for a whole range of devices including dampers for controlling and stabilizing large building that move around in the wind. It is amazing...
Almost every application with GUI needs icons. And they better be sexy. And stylish. And consistent. And small. Here are few tips for programatically creating icons using Java 2D features
"You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible."